Drupal 7 Quick Database Reference

Functions
db_delete($table, array $options = array())
Returns a new DeleteQuery object for the active database.
db_delete('node')->condition('nid', $nid)->execute();

Relevant Hooks
hook_update($node)
It is called to allow the module to take action when an edited node is being updated in the database.
db_query("UPDATE {mytable} SET extra = '%s' WHERE nid = %d", $node->extra, $node->nid);

db_query($query, $args = array(), $options = array())

Execute an arbitrary query string against the active database.
$result = db_query('SELECT nid FROM {my_table} WHERE nid = :nid', array('nid' => $edit['nid']));

hook_query_alter(QueryAlterableInterface $query)
Perform alterations to a structured query before it is executed.
$query->condition({$access_alias}.grant_$op, 1, '>=');

pager_query($query, $limit = 10, $element = 0, $count_query = NULL)

Use this function when doing select queries you wish to be able to page.
$sql = 'SELECT * FROM {url_alias} WHERE dst LIKE :keys'; $header = array( array('data' => t('Alias'), 'field' => 'dst', 'sort' => 'asc'), array('data' => t('System'), 'field' => 'src'), array('data' => t('Operations'), 'colspan' => '2') ); $sql .= tablesort_sql($header); $result = pager_query($sql, 50, 0 , NULL, array(':keys' => '%'. $keys .'%'));

hook_insert($node)
It is called to allow the module to take action when a new node is being inserted in the database.
db_query("INSERT INTO {mytable} (nid, extra) VALUES (%d, '%s')", $node->nid, $node->extra);

hook_delete(&$node)
It is called to allow the module to take action when a node is being deleted from the database.
db_query('DELETE FROM {mytable} WHERE nid = %d', $node->nid);

db_select($table, $alias = NULL, array $options = array())

Returns a new SelectQuery object, add conditions and execute.
$result = db_select('menu_links') ->fields('menu_links', array('menu_name')) ->condition('link_path', $link_path) ->condition('customized', 0) ->condition('module', $module) ->execute();

hook_load($nodes )
It is called to allow the module a chance to load extra information that it stores about a node. The hook should not be used to replace information from the core {node} table since this may interfere with the way nodes are fetched from cache.
$result = db_query('SELECT nid, foo FROM {mytable} WHERE nid IN (:nids)', array(':nids' => array_keys($nodes))); foreach ($result as $record) { $nodes[$record->nid]->foo = $record->foo; }

db_update($table, array $options = array())

Returns a new UpdateQuery object and change the uid column in all rows.
db_update('poll_vote') ->fields(array('uid' => 0)) ->execute();

http://open.madcap.nl